This apparatus relates to meter pits; and more particularly relates to a novel and improved precast concrete meter pit and to a method and apparatus for manufacturing same.
Meter pits for water meters are customarily fabricated out of plastic or multiple stacked concrete sections in the form of a cylindrical pipe. The plastic meter pits typically sell at a higher price than concrete pits and tend to deform under certain conditions. The concrete-sectioned meter pits are assembled in segments using a tongue-and-groove connection which is labor intensive and also poses a safety risk when assembling the meter pits by hand which must be transported and assembled on site. The pipes are then buried in the ground, typically below frost level, and have an upper end which is adapted to receive a cover in order to withstand extremely cold temperatures and particularly to insulate the water meter from cold temperatures. However, there is a need for a meter pit having a plurality of precast sections fabricated in a one-step slip form operation and which will allow for easy placement and removal of the meter pit sections.
In addition, packerhead assemblies have been devised for slip forming concrete pipe including a trowel assembly at one end of the packerhead assembly to form an outwardly directed, offset end but for several reasons are not practical for use as a meter pit. A representative patent is U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,571 to Crawford incorporated by reference herein in which a trowel assembly is employed in association with the packerhead assembly to specially shape one end of the concrete pipe; however, as will become hereinafter more apparent, the concrete pipe as manufactured in accordance with that patent is not conformable for use as a meter pit. Accordingly, there is also a need for a novel and improved method and apparatus for fabricating meter pits with a removable slip ring.